AnimeNation Anime News Blog

Anime News Network has learned what manga titles are included in the promotional Shonen Jump #0 scheduled for public release tomorrow.

Yu Yu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togasami
Yu-Gi-Oh! by Kazuki Takahashi
One Piece by Eiichiro Oda, a pirate adventure and basis of the 100+ episode long current hit TV anime series
SandLand by Akira Toriyama, a single volume adventure story originally published in Japan 2 years ago
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto, a best selling currently serialized ninja action story
Dragon Ball Z by Akira Toriyama
Shaman King by Hiroyuki Taki, basis for the current 40+ episode long hit supernatural action TV anime series

The first retail issue of Shonen Jump USA is scheduled for release in November, and the titles included in issue 0 may not be the finalized titles that will appear in the regular monthly magazine.

Welcome to Pia Carrot originated as an adult PC game series in 1996 and became the basis for 2 hentai anime OAV series. In more recent years the popularity of the series spawned the non-pornographic Welcome to Pia Carrot DX OAV series, the all ages GameBoy Color love simulation game Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! 2.2 and the Dreamcast love sim Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! 2.5. Now Pia Carrot is moving to the big screen this September. The official Pia Carrot movie homepage now has a full theatrical trailer for Pia Carrot e Youkoso!! Sayaka no Ai Monogatari (Welcome to Pia Carrot: Sayaka’s Love Story) available in streaming Windows Media format.

Source: Anime News Service

Production IG has announced that it will hold a press conference, “an event called ANIFES in Sesion Suginami Hall,” on August 10th to promote the upcoming Ghost in the Shell TV series. The first 2 episodes of the new series will be previewed. According to TV series screenwriter “Ghostwriter,” “This series is not a sequel, nor a remake. It is a completely new series based on several new plots by Shirow Masamune.” The series is planned for 26 episodes.

Source: Anime News Service

Cinescape Magazine reports that film producer Debra Hill has hopes to turn anti-hero character Snake Plissken of John Carpenter’s Escape from New York and Escape from L.A. movies into an iconic super hero “such as Spider-Man, Batman and Superman.” The marketing blitz will include a new comic book series, novels, a Japanese Anime feature and a video game. No additional information on what Hill calls a “Japanese Anime feature” is presently available.

Source: Anime News Service

Newsarama reports that manga artist Kia Asamiya will be taking a step away from what is normally thought of as “manga” by bringing his distinctive artistic style to Marvel Comics. Beginning this November with “Marvel Double Shot,” Asamiya will provide the art for a short Thor story written by newcomer Marlan Harris. The following month, Asamiya will become the regular monthly penciler for Uncanny X-Men, beginning with issue #416. Asamiya said of his decision to enter the American monthly comic industry that “he hopes to show his work draws influence from American comics and design as much as manga and anime and hopes to prove manga is not just one style.”

Source: Anime News Network

AICN has published a brief and very positive review of director Hideo (Ring) Nakata’s latest horror/suspense film, Dark Water. American production company Pandemonium Films has already optioned American re-make rights to the movie.

Source: Anime News Service

Question:
For the past few weeks this theatrical Poster for the upcoming live action DBZ movie has been circulating the internet. There’s been a lot of speculation that the poster is 100% fake. What do you think? Here are the reasons why I think this movie poster is a fake. 1) 1. A real movie poster must have the director or the creator’s full name. This poster doesn’t have one. 2) The 20th Century Fox symbol on the bottom of the poster is a dead give away that it is a fake. 3) The title of the move is Dragonball, not DBZ. They are using the original name “Dragonball” and not “Dragonball Z.”

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Akadot has published an extended exclusive interview with Gutsoon! Publishing’s Sam Humphries, consulting editor of the upcoming weekly manga anthology magazine Raijin Comics.

Source: Anime News Service

Gamespot has published a brief, non-critical preview of the upcoming American produced cel-shaded Robotech: Battlecry console shooting game based on the latest playable demo build provided by TDK Mediactive.

Bandai has released the first screenshots of its upcoming full 3D Ultraman fighting game for the Playstation 2, Ultraman: Fighting Evolution 2. The game will feature 14 playable characters including at least 6 different Ultramen.

Source: The Magic Box

ADV has set a street date of October 22, 2002 for the DVD premiere of Rubbersuit Pictures’ The Complete Daimajin, a three disc set featuring all three Daimajin movies - Daimajin, Return of Daimajin, and Wrath of Daimajin. Retailing for a low suggested price of only $24.98, The Complete Daimajin comes in the letterbox format and Japanese language with English subtitles, and includes the Daimajin trailer and ADV previews.

Source: Anime News Service

Question:
How popular is or was Martian Successor Nadesico in Japan? I figured at first it must have been pretty popular if it spawned a theatrical movie and that the series was accessible by virtually any anime fan. Yet, I don’t hear much fanfare about it. Why is that?

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California based visual development company Akira Creative has announced plans to create a full CG animated film involving both Japanese and American animation studios. The project is currently early in the pre-production stages and is tentatively titled “Project Requiem.” Project Requiem is a co-production of “The Kaworu Seven,” seven artists/employees of Akira Creative, and Japanese publishing company Tekkon Ink. The “Kaworu Seven” include Akira Creative founder and President Akira Tezuka, a former visual artist for Squaresoft whose credits include Final Fantasy 7-10; Vice President Makoto Sayori, producer and animator on anime including Graveyard of Fireflies, Mononoke Hime and Spirited Away; Ichiyo Kamehiko, development and background artist on anime including Macross Plus, Escaflowne, Cowboy Bebop and RahXephon; Nobuo Takahashi, Squaresoft development artist and animator on games including Kingdom Hearts, The Bouncer and Parasite Eve 2; Hajime Kaneko, development artist and animator on anime including Akira, Trigun, Jubei nin Pocho and Metropolis; Shirow Tadayuki, development artist and CG artist on anime including Ghost in the Shell, End of Evangelion and FLCL; and American animator and writer “Vicious Iori.”

Source: Anime News Service

AD Vision has “formed a strategic partnership with CoMix Wave (not related to Coamix) to bring CoMix Wave’s manga titles to North America.” As part of this partnership, AD Vision has acquired the English language translation rights to the acclaimed recent independently produced anime OAV Hoshi no Koe: Voices of a Distant Star. The American release of the 20 minute OAV will be supplemented by as much as 50 minutes of supplemental material.

AD Vision has confirmed the American distribution license to all 114 episodes of St. Seiya, the uncut, Japanese language version of Sailormoon TV seasons 1 & 2, and Sorcerous Stabber Orphen Revenge (the second, 23 episode long TV series).

American localization of Gensomaden Saiyuki, Superdimensional Calvary Southern Cross, Genesis Climber Mospeada, and Aura Battler Dunbine are now in progress. Full Metal Panic and RahXephon are tentatively scheduled for release next year. Super GALS! Kotobuki Ran is relatively low on the priority list and likely will not be released in the near future.

Source: Anime News Network

Bandai confirmed at last weekend’s Otakon convention that the upcoming Cowboy Bebop Best Sessions DVD will include 6 select “best” episodes from the 26 episode series, remastered with Dolby Digital 5.1 and DTS audio tracks.

Bandai will be releasing Love Hina TV episode 25 and the Christmas Special in America this winter. The Spring Special and 3 Love Hina Again OAVs have not been acquired for American release yet.

The is no tentative release date nor episode count for the Ghost in the Shell TV series yet, but the series has a production budget of 800 million yen, more than the cost of many theatrical anime films.

Bandai is apparently interested in getting the .hack//SIGN anime TV series American television broadcast.

Escaflowne was subcontracted to Saban Entertainment for its American television broadcast on the Fox Network. The series was canceled in America mid-run probably due to the sale of Saban Entertainment to Disney. When the Saban license expires, American television distribution rights to Escaflowne will revert to Bandai, at which time Bandai has the option to trying to get the show back on American television. When Saban’s distribution rights to Escaflowne expire was not revealed.

There will be an Outlaw Star DVD boxed set at some time in the future.

Sunrise Animation of Japan still refuses to allow official distribution of an original language, English subtitled version of the first Gundam television series in America.

Source: Anime News Network